


New Life

by spaceMaverick



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Omen of the Stars: Book 6: The Last Hope, StarClan (Warriors), Trans Character, Trans Female Character, takes place after the last hope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 13:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17162768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceMaverick/pseuds/spaceMaverick
Summary: “I’m more stressed than ever, and this body… isn’t helping.”“I guess I’m just wondering- are you real, StarClan? And can you help me?”(original idea by draikinator on tumblr!)





	New Life

**Author's Note:**

> listen when i saw draikinator's ideas on how transitioning could happen in warriors i lost my entire mind. and then they talked about mothwing??????????????? hell yes!!!

“I was planning on going out for more horsetail,” Willowshine said, pawing through the herb storages. “Is there anything else I should look for?”

“Maybe some marigold,” Mothwing said. The remaining blooms they had were starting to look old. “Hey, Willowshine?” She asked.

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to go the the Moonpool.”

“What?” Willowshine blinked at her. “Do you want me to go with you?”

Mothwing shook her head. “I have to do something there.” Her pelt burned with guilt from keeping things from her apprentice, but this was a private matter. “I shouldn’t be gone longer than a normal visit. Will you keep an eye on Duskfur, though? I’m a little worried about her stress levels.”

Willowshine paused, brow furrowed, but nodded. “I’ll give her a little thyme if she seems bad. Be- be safe, Mothwing.”

“Thank you, Willowshine,” Mothwing purred with a small dip of her head. She padded over to the other side of the den, retrieving travelling herbs and focusing on her breathing. _It’s going to be fine,_ she urged herself.

 

Water echoed softly in the stone hollow. Mothwing felt her paws slip into the ancient pawprints of long-dead cats and let out a nervous breath. She looked around the hollow, watching the Moonpool ripple as the small waterfall poured into it.

“We’ve been working hard since the battle,” Mothwing meowed absent-mindedly. “I’m more stressed than ever, and this body… isn’t helping.” She paused to control her breathing. “I guess I’m just wondering- are you real, StarClan? And can you help me?”

The Moonpool remained silent, save for the rippling water. Mothwing sighed. “Sometimes I hate the way I am,” she continued, laying down and tucking her paws under her chest. “Sometimes i wish I was born different, like my mother. Or Leopardstar. Or Leafpool. It feels weird. But other times I’m okay. I feel okay when I’m with Willowshine, or Leafpool, or other medicine cats. I feel safe, like I did with Sasha. She was always so kind to me, and let me live how I wanted.” She stared down at her reflection in the Moonpool. “I feel like I have to work harder now. When it was just me and Hawk and Tadpole, I could do whatever I wanted. But now I have to worry about all these cats, and I’m trying to talk to someone I don’t even believe in.”

A sudden chill ran through Mothwing. The Moonpool seemed to ring quietly, and an urge to step into the water began to take over. Mothwing stood, legs shaking. “If you’re real, please, just let me know,” she called. She looked back to the Moonpool and stepped forward.

Mothwing had swam before; she’d grown up swimming. But the water of the Moonpool had an ice-cold, yet somehow still burning tingle to it. Her fur fluffed up as she waded deeper, almost buzzing with static. Please let this be a good idea, she thought, letting herself be pulled underwater.

 

A pale glow obscured Mothwing’s vision. _Have I drowned?_ She thought, horrified. She blinked rapidly to try and clear the brightness. Shapes began to appear in the light, and she stared at the field forming around her. _StarClan? Am I in StarClan?_

“Greetings, Mothwing,” a voice whispered. Mothwing whipped around to see a golden, lean-muscled molly behind her. The cat’s pelt glittered like the night sky, and her amber eyes were warm and welcoming.

“Leopardstar!?” Mothwing gasped, paws frozen in shock. “How are you- what’s happening?”

“You’re underwater, in the Moonpool,” Leopardstar explained calmly. “There’s no need to fear, darling.”

 _“How_ is this happening?”

Leopardstar let out an amused purr. “You asked for StarClan to help you. You’ve opened yourself up to us, Mothwing. Now we can.”

Mothwing regained control of her legs and sat down. How would StarClan help her?

“You’ve made it clear what your worries are,” Leopardstar continued. “And we can help. You are uncomfortable in your body, and it makes your life harder. No cat should have to live with such a problem.” She moved closer and looked Mothwing in the eye. “You deserve to live how you wish, Mothwing.” The leader’s presence was immeasurably comforting, reminding Mothwing of when she first came to RiverClan. Back when her mother was still with her, when Hawkfrost was kind and healthily ambitious. She leaned forward, drinking in Leopardstar’s scent.

“What are you going to do?” Mothwing asked.

“An action similar to a leader’s ceremony,” Leopardstar said. “In a way, you are receiving a new life. Please stand up.”

Mothwing rose to her paws shakily, watching as the golden molly rose her chin to speak.

“StarClan, before you is a lost cat. She has been given the wrong body, the wrong life, and wishes to have it altered. With a leader’s and a StarClan warrior’s power, I give her this life.” Leopardstar touched her nose to Mothwing’s forehead. “With my blessing, I grant this molly a life of comfort in her body. I give her happiness and light, and I give her a new outlook. May you live comfortably and happily, until you join the ranks of StarClan.”

As Leopardstar finished speaking, an intense, bright feeling rushed through Mothwing’s entire body. The StarClan molly disappeared as the light became blinding once more, swallowing the sunny field with it.

Mothwing erupted from the Moonpool, gasping for air and pulling herself to the edge. Water fell away from her fur, as if she had a duck’s feathers. Her lungs didn’t burn, and she felt stronger than ever. Leopardstar’s words echoed in her mind. _May you live comfortably and happily, until you join the ranks of StarClan._ She looked behind her, but the hollow was empty. _Do I believe in StarClan now?_ She must, now that she had spoken to her dead leader. Is this what it _always_ felt like to speak with StarClan? She felt a little light-headed. To her surprise, the sky hadn’t darkened as much as she thought it would have. She turned and left the hollow, a new chill running through her when her paws slipped into the ancient pawprints at the Moonpool. _Incredible…_

Her paws hit the ground with a newfound lightness, she noticed. She was _happy_. For the first time in what felt like moons, she was really, truly happy.

**Author's Note:**

> i cant remember how mothwing and leopardstar feel about each other but i like mothwing looking up to her and maybe seeing her as a mother. also being attached to really pretty people of your gender identity is a big trans mood
> 
> i wasnt sure how to approach her spirituality, so i went with the easy (and kind of comforting) outcome of her believing in starclan. i think its interesting to have atheist characters in a universe with such concrete eveidence of higher powers and an afterlife, but for this fic i made her belivee in starclan.
> 
> ______________________________________________________
> 
> edit: i made some art of an idea i had for this! since my design for mothwing is a cream lynx-point, i had her fur change to a dilute torbie-point!!!!  
> 


End file.
